Planting of hard winter wheat research plots in October
Wheat plots in the grain-filling stage in May
Getting ready to harvest wheat in a combine in early July
Close up of wheat heads at the grain-filling stage
Microscopic spores of leaf rust, stem rust, and stripe rust fungi that cause important diseases of wheat
Two RNAi transgenic 'Bobwhite' plants (4798R & 5428R) show that FHB resistance in wheat is controlled by the TaHRC gene, compared with the non-transgenic 'Bobwhite' 8 days after inoculation.
Mission
The mission of this project is to develop and provide genetic solutions to several economically important biotic and abiotic stress problems in hard winter wheat including leaf rust, stripe rust, stem rust, Hessian fly, Fusarium head blight, acid soils, and heat stress. We identify new sources of resistance or tolerance, identify resistance and tolerance genes and develop methods for marker-assisted selection, and provide adapted germplasm lines with new traits to breeders for development of new cultivars.